Railway mud-guard.



A. M. ANDERSON.

RAILWAY muo GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10. I911.

LQQQQIU Patented Oct. 23,1917.

I nuenfor:

pen

in sas a are ALBERT M. ANDERSON, or MILWAUKEE,- Wisconsin, Assienon or ONE-na s 'ro JOHN w. THOMAS, or onrcaeo, rnnrnors. a v

. RAILWAY MUD-GUARD.

it Specification of Letters Patent. v Patented Oct, 23, 1917,

Application filed March 10, 1917. seriarno. 153,880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT M. ANDERSON, a naturalized citizen of the United States,

the following is a specification.

My invention relates ;to railway mud,

guards for use at highway crossings, etc.,

and one object is to provide a comparatively simple and inexpensive device of this character that can beinstalledat low cost, and. in which v thecost of maintenance is reduced 7 to a minimum." 7 A further objectis to provide substantial supporting means 7 whereby the track rail and the abutting mud guard rail are reliably held in proper relation to each other, so that one cannot move independently of the other and leave a dangerous opening between said rails.

Other objects 'of'the invention will here- .inafter appear, and in order that saidinvention may be fully understood, reference.

will now be made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a broken, plan View of a highway crossing at a section of track in which my devices are installed.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross section on line IIII of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross section, enlarged, on line III-III of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail, perspective View of the preferred form of device.

Fig. 5 is a detail of a modified form of device.

Referring now in detail to the various parts, A designates the track rails, B the mud guard rails which are turned over upon their sides, and C the underlying cross ties.

1 designates my device which embodies a the raised, central portion 5, being adapted to fit against the web F, while the lower,

grooved portions 6 and 7 snugly fitthe ball G and the base flange H, respectively,'of

saidguard rail B- The base flange H of the guard rail B is further engaged by a reliably holding'the' guard mill? in position, coacts with anumber of spikes D in Iholdingthe track'r'ail A down upon the base plate 2, said member 3 having a wall 11 which overlapsthe rail base I and extends upwardly against the adjacent web 'of the railwhere it communicates with .thelip 9 as disclosed byFigs. 3 and 4:.

In practice,,when the parts are assembled as disclosed by' Figs. 1, '2 and '3, the ball of the guard rail B is reliably held by the supporting member 3 against the web and be neath one side of the ball of the track rail A, and thus overcomes vertical and lateral stresses tending to force said rails from their proper relative positions. The member 3 is aided in holding the rails A and B in proper position by the base plate 2, which carries said member 3 and also the rail A, so that said rail cannot move vertically independently of the member 3 and the rail B. The

usual planking E is laid between the track rails and at the outer sides thereof as disclosed by Figs. 1 and 2.

From the foregoing description, it will be understood that the rails A and B cannot be forced apart to leave an opening for mud and other foreign matter to wash in between the same, or wherein a horse is likely to catch the calks of his shoes and thus break a limb, which sometimes occurs where the old type of installation is employed. The present invention also provides a comparatively smooth surface for vehicles crossing the track as the guard rail B cannot move upwardly or downwardly from its relative po-' sition to the upper surface of the track rail A and the abutting planks E, the margins of which are protected from splintering and undue W by he upp r edge .J f th ase of the rails 13, as said upper edges eXtend to a level with the upper surface of said margins. Said margins also rest upon the lips 8 and are prevented thereby from being depressed below the upper edges J of theguard rails B.

In the modified form disclosed by Fig. 5, the supporting member 3 is made separate from the base plate 2', but in other respects is the same as the supporting member 8.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: a I

1. o In combination With a track rail and a mud guard rail Which latter is disposed upon its side With itsv ball engaging the Web and the ball of. the track rail, a member having a seat for the ball of the mud guard rail and a Wall overlapping the base flange and abutting the Web of the track rail to hold the tivorails in their proper positions, substantially as described.

2. A device of the character described,

consisting of a supporting member having a raised central portion adapted to fit against the web 01 a guard rail laid upon its side, and grooves at opposite sides of said raised central portion to constitute seats for the ball and the base flange of said guard rail.

consisting of a supporting member having a raised central portion adapted to fit against the Web of a guard rail laid upon its side, grooves at opposite sides of said raised central portion to constitute seats for the ball and the base flange of said guard rail, a lip constituting one Wall of one of said grooves, and a flange constituting one Wall of the other groove.

a. In combination With a track rail and a mud guard rail Which latter is disposed upon its side With its ball engaging the Web and the ball of the track rail, a base plate to underlie said rails, and a member on said base plate to engage both rails and hold them in proper relation to each other, p

5. A device of he character described, consisting of a base plate, a supporting member having a raised central portion adapted to fit against the 78b of a guard rail laid upon its side and having grooves at opposite sides of said raised central portion to constitute seats for the ball and the ba se flange of said guard rail, alip. constituting one Wall of said groove, and a flange constituting one wall of the other groove, substantially as described. v v v W H In testimony whereof I afliX my signature, in the presence of two Witnesses. I

, ALBERT M. ANDERSON.

Witnesses: I

E. A. BROWN, ESTHER L. BROWN,

@epies as this patent may be obtained iornve cents each, addressing the Commissioner of fateiits, Washington, D. G. 

